Using Project tips is like having a project manager standing next to you giving you advice on how best to use Project.

Keep this page at your finger tips by bookmarking it — we'll be adding new tips as time goes on.

Moving around in projects

• Do you want to quickly edit text in the Gantt chart or any sheet view? Press F2 to activate the entry bar to edit text in the selected cell.
• Can't see the Gantt bars for your selected tasks? Click the Go To Selected Task button.
• If you want to move the timescale portion of the view in small increments, press CTRL+LEFT or CTRL+RIGHT.
• If you want to see a form view along with another view for quick entry of task or resource details, hold down SHIFT while clicking the view on the View Bar.

Viewing project information

• If you have applied a filter to your view to show only specific tasks, you can quickly see all your tasks again by pressing F3.
• Do you want a quick way to select all the rows and columns in the Gantt chart or any sheet view? Press CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR.
• Don't know how a column or field is used? Point at the header of the column, and click the Help link.
• To quickly view details about tasks or resources, double-click the item you want to change.
• To quickly create a Gantt Chart that looks the way you want, click Gantt Chart Wizard on the Standard toolbar.
• To show or hide a toolbar, right-click one of the currently displayed toolbars, and then click the toolbar you want to show or hide.

Working with the Calendar

• Want to quickly create a task in the Calendar? Simply place your cursor within the Calendar, and drag your mouse right or left for the duration of the task.
• You can change or add task information in the Calendar view. Double-click the task to display the Task Information dialog box. For example, you can change the predecessors or attach a note to the task.

Working with tasks

• To quickly link tasks, select the two tasks and press CTRL+F2. To unlink tasks, select them and press CTRL+SHIFT+F2.
• Do you want to format an individual Gantt bar? Double-click the Gantt bar to open the Format Bar dialog box.
• Want to format a category of Gantt bars? Double-click a blank area of the chart portion of the Gantt Chart to open the Bar Styles dialog box,
• Do you want to edit a cell by typing within the cell? Click the text to select it, and then click it again to place the editing cursor in the text.
• You can link two tasks quickly using the mouse. In the Gantt Chart view, point to one of the bars until you see a four-pointed arrow, then drag it to the task you want to link to.
• Did you make a mistake? Quickly undo mistakes by pressing CTRL+Z.
• You can create new tasks by dragging left or right in a blank area on the right side of the Gantt Chart.
• To quickly start the spell checker, press F7.
• To enter identical information for more than one task, select the tasks, and then click the Task Information button on the Standard toolbar.
• To change the duration of a task, drag the right end of the task's Gantt bar left or right.

Working with resources and assignments

• You can quickly view resource availability using a graph as you assign resources to tasks. From the Assign Resource dialog box, click Graphs.
• To quickly enter resource information in the Resource Sheet view, double click the resource name, and enter information in the Resource Information dialog box.
• To quickly start the spell checker, press F7.

Collaborate

• You can quickly collaborate with your team about assignments. In any sheet view, simply select a specific task, assignment, or resource and right-click to display the shortcut menu. Depending on the collaboration activity, click Publish New and Changed Assignments or Request Progress Information.
• Want to create an effective presentation? Copy your Gantt chart or other view using the Copy Picture to Office Application button on the Analysis toolbar.
• If you have Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2003 or another MAPI-compliant, 32-bit e-mail system, you can route projects to reviewers from Project. On the File menu, point to Send To, then click Mail Recipient.
• You can include a copy of the Gantt Chart view in an e-mail message or Microsoft Office Word 2003 document. With the Gantt Chart view displayed, click Copy Picture on the Standard toolbar, and then paste the picture into an e-mail message or Microsoft Word document.

Tracking Progress

• Milestones are checkpoints you can use to track progress. You can make any task a milestone by setting its duration to zero or by selecting the Mark task as milestone check box on the Advanced tab in the Task Information dialog box.
• You can save a copy of a baseline plan for later reference. On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click Save Baseline. All the scheduled information is copied into baseline fields. Later you can compare this plan to your actual results.
• To quickly find out how complete a task is, click the 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% button on the Tracking toolbar.
• To update how much work has been completed on a task, drag the left end of the task's Gantt bar to the right to display the correct completion percentage.

OLE and graphics

• You can include a copy of the Gantt Chart view in an e-mail message or Microsoft Word document. With the Gantt Chart view displayed, click Copy Picture on the Standard toolbar, and then paste the picture into an e-mail message or Word document.

Managing costs

• Project can track costs for you. When you update a project by entering the actual duration of a task, the costs automatically are updated based on the cost of the resources and the fixed cost entered for that task.

Printing

• Want to create an effective presentation? Copy your Gantt chart or other view using the Copy Picture to Office Application button on the Analysis toolbar.
• You can preview a view before printing it by clicking Print Preview on the Standard toolbar.
• You can scale your project to print on one page. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Page tab.